The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'm not going until Saturday so I can't comment yet, but i'm sure there's a few people going tonight, so if anyone has any feedback and reviews for later on then please post them here!

Yeah, in a couple of hours we will know if Brian still 'has it' - just joking, but this new work is really some kind of all or nothing situation. I already see the reviews in British newspapers tomorrow: Brian is back!

Well I'm going tonight, so I shall report back when I get back from the gig!

I'm also going on Saturday and to the Manchester show a week later. I sooooo want this to be a great show as I'm dragging my girl along and she's no really a fan (yet). :-\
 

jealous i am of everyone who gets to post a review  ;)

It's getting rave reviews at the blueboard (so far).
I'm looking forward to hearing it someday...

From NME.com

Brian Wilson premieres new 'song cycle' in London

The Beach Boys legend also covers The Beatles
 
The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson premiered his brand new 'song cycle' 'That Lucky Old Sun' in London tonight (September 10).

The star, backed by his regular touring band, returned to his regular stomping ground of London's Royal Festival Hall to give showcase the nine-song suite, based on the classic 1949 song 'That Lucky Old Sun'.

Similar in style to his legendary album 'Smile', which he performed at the same venue in 2004, the songs, with lyrics by Scott Bennett and interspersed with narratives provided by 'Smile' lyricist Van Dyke Parks, were a sentimental ode to Los Angeles and Wilson's past.

While the music was being performed many images of southern California appeared on the backdrops, as well as snaps of Wilson with his Beach Boys bandmates and brothers Dennis and Carl, who died in 1983 and 1998 respectively.

Wilson's new music was received warmly by the capacity crowd, who gave their hero a standing ovation at the end of the 45-minute set.

The set closer was a cover from The Beatles' 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', 'She's Leaving Home', marking the 40th anniversary of that album's release.

Elsewhere, the evening's entertainment also featured a cover of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B Goode' and the usual Beach Boys classics such as 'Good Vibrations', 'Help Me Rhonda', 'Do It Again' and 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'.

But Wilson also took the time, as promised, to play a host of rarely performed tunes such as set opener 'Girl Don't Tell Me', 'Salt Lake City', 'I'd Love Just Once To See You' and 'She Knows Me Too Well'.

The set was:

'Girl Don't Tell Me'
'Dance Dance Dance'
'Salt Lake City'
'Catch A Wave'
'Then I Kissed Her'
'In My Room'
'Do You Wanna Dance?'
'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)'
'She Knows Me Too Well'
'I'd Love Just Once To See You'
'Do It Again'
'Please Let Me Wonder'
'California Girls'
'Sloop John B'
'Wouldn't It Be Nice'
'God Only Knows'
'Heroes And Villains'
'Good Vibrations'
That Lucky Old Sun: 'Morning Beat'/'Good Kind Of Love'/'Forever You'll Be My Surfer Girl'/'Mexican Girl'/'California Role'/'Oxygen To The Brain'/'Midnight's Another Day'/'Going Home'/'Southern California'
'Johnny B Goode'
'I Get Around'
'Help Me Rhonda'
'Barbara Ann'
'Surfin' USA'
'Fun Fun Fun'
'She's Leaving Home'


The tour continues tomorrow (September 11) with the second of six nights at the Festival Hall.

The remaining dates are as follows:

London Royal Festival Hall (September 11, 12, 14, 15, 16)
Bristol Colston Hall (18)
Bournemouth Opera House (20)
Edinburgh Festival Theatre (22)
Manchester Palace Theatre (23)
Birmingham Symphony Hall (24)

To check ticket availability for the Festival Hall shows, go to southbankcentre.co.uk.

To check ticket availability for all the other dates and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/GIGS, now.

Well, I just got back from the RFH, and I'm too tired to write much now, but will later. The first half was a fairly dull run-through of a few favourites, opening, unaccountably, with Girl Don't Tell me - not a great song at the best of times and certainly not a show-opener, but it got better when better songs were introduced.

That Lucky Old Sun was, as far as I could tell, great! Its difficult to tell on one listening, but I wasn't disappointed (as I feared I would be), and MAD was superb. In fact, there was also a slide show, most of which was incredibly cheesy, but then they showed some images of Brian, Dennis and Carl together through the ages, and I have to admit it brought quite a tear to my eye.

It was a good gig. Brian behaved almost like a normal person, played a bit of keyboards at the beginning, and even stood up to sing at the end. His voice was pretty good, and he hit about 80% + of his notes. The band were great.

If someone else doesn't beet me to it I'll try and remember the set list for the morning.

There will definitely be a cd release of this.

The set list is in the post above yours. One point of contention is that some people say that Live Let Live was performed, but it is not in the nme.com set list. Do you remember them playing it?

Live Let Live was part of TLOS.
So was Can't Wait Too Long, seriously!
Tears were shed, it was awesome. Now I'm tired!

Brian did "Can't Wait Too Long" live?  That sounds amazing!

Actually, from what Ive read, parts of the melody popped up at various points in the piece. Sounds phenomenal....wish I was there!

Is Going Home from the Paley sessions?

sweeet!!!

BW's people may have given the whole set list to NME beforehand, and the review could have been written days ago. You know what these things are like. The songs in TLOS weren't introduced, so NME must have been working from a list.

"Can't Wait Too Long" was the definate highlight/surprise for me, especially as it was played with the Wilson Brothers photo montage highlighted on the screen behind - but it was probably only about a minute of the melody and vocals and didn't really develop into a full blown section on its own.
As I've said elsewhere "Oxygen To The Brain" was just little bit TOO close to "Couldn't Get His Poor Ol' Body To Move"/"Too Much Sugar" for my liking - the lyrical lowpoint - but some of the other sections/movements were amazing. Scott provided some fantastic Mexican/flamenco guitar during "Mexican Girl", with Probyn offering up some trumpet support, and Scott also shone on his lead vocal intro to (I think) "California Roll" ... and Jeff brought out the ukelele again for one number !
"She's Leaving Home" ??? After the hype about celebrating an anniversary milestone I cannot deny I found it a bit of an anti-climax. A great arrangement ... but following on from "Johnny B Goode" "Rhonda" "Surfin' USA" "Barbara Ann" and "FFF" to finish off with this one ... well, not for me, but a brave attempt at replacing the tried and tested "L&M". A great evening ... can't wait for my second night on Wednesday !

brian talking about TLOS on bbc radio, 11 september: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/

Cool! Thanks for posting!

Are we really in a discussion of a *new* BW song suite? This is a dream, right? Hope if he tours the US, he hits Houston...

I wasn't there, though I wish I had been. Basically for financial reasons I limit myself to one or two big gigs a year...and 2007 is Genesis and Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds for me.

But the review in the Guardian looks quite positive (4 stars out of five)
Indeed they preferred TLOS to the rest of the set.

http://music.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,2166622,00.html

WOW - tough call. If Genesis had been indoors I'd have been there aswell - I look forward to the DVD release at Christmas ... and ironically I was only put off the Jeff Wayne show by the earlier DVD release, but I'm sure in the actual venue it'll do it justice. Enjoy !

 The first half was a fairly dull run-through of a few favourites, opening, unaccountably, with Girl Don't Tell me - not a great song at the best of times and certainly not a show-opener, but it got better when better songs were introduced.


Glad you enjoyed most of the gig.
Personally, I love GDTM and am knocked out that he's doing it.
Different strokes, I guess.

While I totally love all of Today and Summer Days, there's been too much of an increasing presence of songs from that era for my personal taste, pushing aside all those beautiful gems from the "troubled years". Then again, I should be more than happy there's a professional audio recording of Brian Wilson, aged 60 performing 'Til I Die in front of, well, people.

Really looking forward to hearing more from TLOS. While I'm not too crazy about Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl, overall it still seems like quite an amazing project to me. Hope it's going to be recorded.

Surprise for me was the inclusion of a few bars from a 1976 archive track that very, very few have ever heard.

Glad to hear you found something of interest too Andrew ... tho' us 'little' folk wouldn't have been aware of such an item ...  :p

When the band did "I'd Love Just once To See You", I had a small smile at the thought of, oh, maybe 1700 people thinking "what the **** is this ?"

Do you happen to know the name of that track? My curiosity is piqued.

Check out the 1976 Rolling Stone article 'The Healing Of Brother Brian'. November, as I recall.  ::)

Oh snap! The "mama-mama" thing, right? Wow....

"Mow-mama-yama-holy-halleluja"

Brian Wilson Inc.:

"There's no tune we won't reuse."

Seriously, though, that's awesome.

Cool, I always wondered if that track really exists and how it would sound like.

Taylor Mills was absent from most of the two sets, and the mix was better for it. During the encore J Foskett introduced everyone, and told the audience that she was ill and could only sing from stage left, and pointed towards some dark shadowy corner from where she had been contributing to some of the later tunes. He didn't say what was wrong with her, but I guess she was either wheelchair-bound, or has some hideous Elephant Man-like facial disfiguration.

I agree that there were a couple of moments of Too Much Sugar-ish excess that went of for far more bars than was necessary, but maybe they will be stripped back for a cd release.

I've just read the Guardian review mentioned above, and the journalist spends most of the time complaining about 'nostalgia fatigue' and doesn't mention TLOS until the final paragraph. He also says the hall was visibly half full and that ticket sales were sluggish. I have to correct that piece of transparently tabloid-style hype (I thought Alexis Petridis was supposed to be a proper writer) and say that as far as I could see the place was visibly full, and before I went I checked availability of tickets for the last night and there were very few left.

For what its worth, I really enjoyed the Paul McCartney cover at the end. The arrangement was pretty much a basic band romp with a strolling bass, but was probably better than the original, which is pretentious. And yes, a welcome change from L&M.  ;)

Interesting. Was this the first concert where he *didn't* perform L&M?

The narration was pre-recorded (sounded like a very peppy Brian) and played over a video showing animations whilst the band performed the music over this live.
Here's the narration parts taken from the show programme...


ROOM WITH A VIEW

Just now I was thinkin' 'bout another perfect day
Wishin' it would come again your way
Down below a sparkled city scatters by the bay
Tells you your suspicions are at play
One by one a carpeted star spangled city sleeps
Like so many dancin' diamonds with a beat
Each of them a home with walls of stories they could tell

Meet the crack of dawn
A freeway starts to roll
An owl hoots its last goodbye to a coyote on patrol

Each day keeps me guessin'
Will you take what I'm confessin'?
WILL YOU FIND A HEART BEAT IN L.A.?


VENICE BEACH

Venice Beach is poppin' like live shrimp dropped on a hot wok
Hucksters hustlers and hawkers set up their boardwalk shops
Home for all the homeless hopeless well heeled and deranged
Still nothin' here seems out of place or strange
There's an old smudge of a beatnik by the bay,
lookin' like a dog who's had his day
Like a dream he drifts away
He'd like to go out on the pier to hear the reedy carousel
It's got a melody that sets you free and says let's set a spell
JUST TO HEAR THE HEART BEAT IN L.A.


CINCO DE MAYO

Down on Olivera Street
A Mexicano cry
A grito! Te quiero!
Te quiero! Te adoro!
That is where the Anglo gets his Latin lover's sigh
Adios muchachas y boleros - and goodbye

Salsa rumbles rafters in a chop shop filled with cars
Custom chopped and channeled with a drag race in their stars
City of Angels
Be all you can be
Be Moveis
Be A-list
Be seen just to see your part
REPEAR THE HEART BEAT IN L.A.


BETWEEN PICTURES

Pumps drunk with oil dance like prehistoric locusts on the hills to L.A.X.
People fill their tanks in flights of fancy
Actors waiting tables with a method they can't share
Waitin' for what's next
Waitin' for the big screen in disrepair
I mean despair
I mean that actor standing there
I mean are we all not actors?
and the whole wide world our stage?
Naw - some are worthy writers with the grit to hit the page
NOW JUST PART OF THE HEART BEAT IN L.A.


Another thing I'm not sure has been mentioned was the 'Tequila!' refrain in Mexican Girl and Darian playing 'Love You' style bass synth on one of the TLOS tracks.

Now I've had a day to get over the experience and take it all in a bit I'm really excited to hear it again. The Stockholm S&H's really brought the whole thing to life and the harmony (you know the one) on MAD was unbelievable breathtaking. Oh and the 'At 25 I turned out the light...' refrain broke my heart, it was pure Brian - a beautiful vocal moment in the middle of a very rocking track. I'm hoping that TLOS will be the start of a great period for Brians music, it sounded like the music Brian would have made following the release of Smile in '67. It's a continuation of the same instrumentation but builds on it. I'm very happy with what I heard last night, even the songs we've heard online are hugely better live. MAD is a great song, live with the whole band, strings and horns, it's beyond that.

1 - Taylor has the same problem as Probyn's wife - touch of the Aztec Two-Step.

2 - I have to correct your piece of transparently inaccurate reporting: the hall was not full last night - maybe 75%. Saturday is all but sold out, but according to the RFH's own site (and i asked last night at the box office as well), the other nights have many seats empty. Sunday has a 2/3 empty balcony, and the rear stalls are by no means full. Speaking to the band and some of 'Brian's people' recently, they admit that sales-wise, this is a bit of a disaster. The writer was correct - sales are sluggish, in the provinces as well. Bristol are offering a 2-for-1 deal.

Yeah it was a toughie. It came down, in the end, to the fact that I've never seen Genesis (I was afraid of crowds in 1992, and living in the wrong country in 1998...too young before that) and this may be the last chance. I've also dreamed of a War of the Worlds concert since I was about 4 years old when I first heard the album...plus my wife is happy to attend that. And having seen Brian on the SMiLE tour...well, what could top that?

I even had The Police to consider this year too, another band I assumed I'd never get a chance to see...choices had to be made. Mr Mastercard has been very good to me and in theory I could pop off to the South Bank any of the next few nights...and pay for it later!

I hope TLOS is a work worthy of Brian Wilson, and that it excites audiences and enhances his reputation. But as the Guardian reporter said, "new work by Brian Wilson" doesn't fill everyone with the confidence it might have 40 years ago. I hope every lucky old sun (and daughter) who attents a concert is delighted...I just can't be one this time rond.

Well in that case I retract my statement of fullness - I guess I was overly-influenced by the general excitement of the occasion and just saw loads of happy faces.

And what, may I ask, is the Aztec two-step for god's sake?

Hmmmm - I see in the news to day that Sir Paul of Macca is scheduled to make an appearance on Thursday night, possibly to duet on the encore ?? Just wonderin', as its Brian's night off, as to whether he's told Paul this. Maybe some of the empty seats that night will hastily fill in the hope ...  ;)

I'm Confused!

Didn't I read an interview with Brian where he talked about how he got the inspiration for this song cycle after hearing Ray Charles classic version of "That Lucky Old Sun"?  And that he downloaded it, learned it and started playing it.  I got the distinct impression that Brian's version would be part of the show but apparently they didn't play it?

Has anyone have any inside info the the song cycle?  AGD?

Another positive review from the Independent:

http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article2950678.ece

I'm curious as well. Can someone describe how the suite fits together? Is the "Lucky Old Sun" theme interspersed throughout the individual songs? Are the "rounds" all played together or are they interspersed among the songs as well? For that matter, are the spoken word portions interspersed or are they all of one piece? Does the snippet of "Been Too Long" stand on its own as a linking track or is it part of the background music behind the narration? Thanks!

Oh, and a big thank you to eden for posting the Parks poems - those are fantastic!

Here's what I can remember about TLOS...

The TLOS refrain was repeated several times. The whole thing broke down into several sections, sort of like SMiLE's movements with actual silence between them. Each section was 3 or 4 songs, some linking instrumentals and some with TLOS lyrics, sort of like vocal rounds, appearing every now and then. The audience applauded during the silences and sometimes at the end of individual songs. I think there was only one naration part per 'movement' except of the final movement (the best one) which sort of started with 'Can't Wait Too Long' intro (the oooohh, beeeeeen toooo loooong bit) which was accompanied by an un-narated video montage of the 3 brothers together (which got some spontaeneous applause when Denny appeared for the firs time and also for Carl). The last 'movement' is the personal one. Oxygen to the Brain I think segued straight into CWTL and then MAD through Going Home and ending with Southern California. It's hard to remember where the actual 'breaks' where in the music but the TLOS 'round' was mostly used to link tracks. I can't wait until a recording surfaces 'cos it was hard to take it all in at the time.

wow that lucky old sun sounds really cool from all the descriptions and Im surpsrised to see that brian finished been too long wonder when the actual album will be released any news?

Now i'm getting very excited and glad I got tickets after all!
And now I have the double excitement of a Led Zeppelin reunion to contend with too!  :smokin

From what I understand, Brian was inspired by Louis Armstrong's version of 'That Lucky Old Sun'; at least that's the version he learnt the song from.

As for 'Can't Wait Too Long/Been Way Too Long'; from other posts it looks like only excerpts were used in the show and as much as I would like to see Brian finally finish this song it probably won't happen. Here's hoping though.

Good response overall.

 8)

Thanks eden! That's basically what I wanted to hear. A three or four movement suite combining narration, rounds, linking tracks and full songs is a lot more ambitious than I thought this thing would be. Cool!

Upset stomach.  :)  Best not to get more than two steps from the bathroom...

The original "TLOS" was featured very early in the piece. As for how it came to be what it is (which is very fine to these ears)... now is not the time. Later. It's an interesting tale.

He didn't - it was used as the underscore for the 'Wilson Brothers' video segment, maybe 60 seconds. The version we all know.

Damn it, Andrew.  Sometimes you piss me off.  >:( ;)

I'll do a full review tomorrow, but I just wanted to add this:

In the first minutes of TLOS, you can hear (twice) a few bars from an unreleased song of the seventies called " Walkin' " - the lyrics are different, but the notes and tempo are exactly the same.  :) It seems like very few people have noticed that.

Mahalo AGD!  Cool that Brian did, in-fact, play a bit of the original.

So, as far as I know, this hasn't been answered yet. Is "Goin' Home" in TLOS the Paley sessions tune?

Not sure, is 'Going Home' doing the rounds with a different title, it's not on Paley Sessions bleg?
Parts of it were also very similar to "Rollin' up to heaven", minus the filthy lyrics!

Screw the fans...From the Blueboard  ::)

 
The great RFH merchandise rip-off...

(posted by John Etherington on September 12, 2007 at 4:01 am)

Message:

Take note everyone...the "Lucky Old Sun" programmes were £10 on Monday, then increased by fifty per cent to £15.00 last night. The explanation given by a guy on the stall was "we sold a lot yesterday, so we might run out"! Now the programmes are well-designed but flimsy in comparison to the excellent "Smile" and other recent tour programmes (all of which originally sold for about £10). This is pure exploitation of fans who have already spent a fortune on tickets for Brian's shows. Who's responsible for making this decision, I wonder?

Love & mercy (to everyone else) John E
 

Wow that kind of whineeness is worthy of a Star Wars fan.  :lol

Oooh! You're such a tease!

Yeah, but they did have PROPERTY OF BRIAN WILSON bath robes at £50! Fab! I nearly bought one!

I looked at the programme and thought it was a crock of sh/t. I wouldn't pay £5 to be honest. It was pants (US trans: shorts) to say the least.

Reduced to £40 last night ... guess these AREN'T shifting !  :o

Lovely review from the Daily Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/12/bmwilson112.xml

Just to quote one paragraph...

Then came the new stuff. I was trepidatious about this bit, Wilson having written barely a half-decent tune in decades, but That Lucky Old Sun was proper music, beautifully arranged, lyrically a little gauche (the words were by band member Scott Bennett), but memorable, sweet, rich and touching.

From The Times (London)

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article2431906.ece

A quote from the review:

There was no getting around a communal sense of trepidation. No-one expects a new masterpiece from a 65 year-old Brian Wilson. Yet, first impressions of songs such as Going Home and Good Kind Of Love suggest he may have delivered one.

I'm sure there are more reviews but I shall leave it with this from Variety

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934679.html?categoryid=1266&cs=1

One quote from the review:

A much-deserved standing ovation greeted the conclusion of "That Lucky Old Sun" a sense of relief filling the audience that Wilson's new work had delivered so much.

Pictures and a link to a videoclip can be found on the messageboard of brianwilson-fans.com:
http://www.brianwilson-fans.com/forum/index.php?topic=1837.30

Wow.  There are a couple of rather eye opening revelations written in the pages of that thread.

Yeah, my favorite is somebody mentioned that the 'midnight' or whatever part starts with Brian saying "I have a dream, and I'm singing with my brothers"  I imagine it would be impossible not to tear up watching him say that with a picture of the Beach Boys on the screen behind him. 

That's the final part of the 'suite' - and although Brian messed up the words on Wednesdays performance, stopped the band, and started again (showing just how wonderfully professional those musicians are - not a beat missed or an eyelid batted) - it is just an amazing moment indeed ...

 "....All of which compounded the surprise when Wilson returned for the encore and declared his intention to play She’s Leaving Home. That said, some baggage may remain. When Wilson got around to singing it, his inexplicably jaunty treatment of the song amounted to an act of sabotage. "


                            OUCH!

'Sabotage' is a little unfair, I think, given that the original arrangement was pretty insipid. SLH was no Eleanor Rigby, after all.

I love Brian's version of "She's leaving home". It kinda sounds like a BW-song with that arrangement imo. But I can live with some people not liking it....


EDIT: Have heard the whole thing now and I think it's great ! Can't say much more at this point but there's a lot (!) of good BW-music on this.

BTW there's a small melody from "Rio grande" in "Morning beat". The "guitars are gently strumming"-line

Somebody mentioned why it sounds 'jaunty' is because he added some "getting better" stuff to it.  I kind of like it like that, it'd be kind of boring if he just covered it and didn't brianize it a little bit. 

There's also parts of "Bells of Madness/Fantasy is Reality" in it also and parts of "Let's Go to Heaven in my car"...very small snippets that only a keen ear can pick up. Considering that this piece is semi-autobiographical, in this case it works.

Some quick thoughts.

1.) "Morning Beat" and "Goin' Home" have absorbed the "Shortnin' Bread" riff. Thankfully, they both have more going on than that.

2.) "Live Let Live" has entirely different lyrics than the soundtrack version. They sound considerably less Parksian.

3.) "California Role" is an unexpected delight. Definitely a song Van Dyke would appreciate.

4.) "Goin Home" is practically a different song from the Paley sessions version. One line of melody and lyric are carried over -- "I'm Goin' Home." Otherwise, the underlying riff, lyrics and bridge sections are new.

5.) Someone needs to give Paul Mertens some props. The string and horn charts for the work are spot-on.

This is really a substantial work. It ties together so many thematic strands of Brian's music. It touches on autobiographical concerns. It has some "day in the life" songs. And, of course, it embraces California mythology whole-heartedly.

Someone get Paul Williams on the case.

Does the program include writing credits to each song? Because we know most of the songs are Wilson/Bennett, but do we know they ALL are? I know Live Let Live has different lyrics, but presumably some of it remains Parks. ("Live Let Live," for example.) And other songs, just here and there, sound as if they may have a dash of VDP in them. I'm curious.

No, the program doesn't mention the individual songs at all, just refers to the TLOS as whole.
Regarding the lyrics it says "Lyrics by Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks & Scott Bennett".
The introduction by Brian says something like "I asked VDP to write some narratives about LA then I asked Scott to incorporate the lyrics VDP had written for the songs we (Brian & Scott) had written"

Is the music all Brian?

Man, I don't like the new lyrics for Live Let Live. The Artctic Tale ones go so much better with the melody.

I suspect the Arctic Tale lyrics are actually the "new" lyrics.

My guess is that Brian and Scott wrote the original version in the summer of 06. Then the soundtrack came up, and they asked Van Dyke to take a crack at the words, making them global-warming themed. The soundtrack version was just recorded in May, I hear.

Clay: Did you see the show in London? Or are you responding to a recorded version?

I had an extraordinarily quick round-trip flight on Monday night. (Cough, cough.)

Peter - There is already a live recording of TLOS floating around.

I'd HATE it if someone PM'd me a link. It would really make me glum!  :'(

I would love it if someone would pm me too.  Pretty Please!

ohhh yeah a pm would be great!

Just back from tonight's show - which was outstanding in all departments. One of the best BW gigs I've EVER been to.

Still no P Mc?

Any surprises in the setlist tonight?
Any celebrity spotted tonight?

Well, i've just seen it and enjoyed it!
Not very good at writing reviews so just a few points really - the startup set was okay but was way too heavy on Today/Summer Days, by far the highpoint for me was 'I'd love just once to see you'. However the band was on good form, good rapport, the energy levels were high and Brian seemed to be in great shape too!
Brians singing was certainly no better or worse than when I saw him in 2002 and 2004, some songs were good, some not so but mostly good. 'Then I kissed her' particularly was well sung (I think in the original key), nice to hear some shouty Brian vocals on some of the songs too!
I'm sure my views on TLOS echo other peoples, TLOS is a good piece certainly, rather than a new rebirth it almost sounds like it could be Brians goodbye(?), overall it has shades of Smile, Orange Crate Art, Rio Grande and 1965 era Beach Boys, but a lot of the composition style kind of reminded me of 1980s Brian, eg: BW88 and Sweet Insanity (In a good way, and I like that stuff)
'Morning Beat' has a kind of Do it again feel (with nods to 'Walkin' and 'Shortenin Bread'),
'Good kind of love' is a nice pop song with a kind of retro 50s feel,
'Forever my Surfer Girl' was better live than the demo, in fact it really came alive for me.
'Live let live' was also enjoyable live, not sure about the words but thats only becasue i'm used to the other one.
'Mexican Girl' was a good romp (I'm sure Mike Love may have written something like this at one point!),
'California Roll' has that clippety-clop kind of trademarked Brian feel,
'Oxygen to the Brain' I liked mainly because of the galloping drums - good feel.
'Midnights another day' we all know and was good live.
'Going Home' is not the Paley sessions song, its completely different - sort of a standard Brian-blues (Do it again, Back Home, I'm Broke etc) but with some nice and unexpected accapella bits.
'Southern California', a nice understated ballad with good vibes (the instrument), sort of a bit Love and Mercy-esque in style, a nice closer.
Overall what struck me was how upbeat it was, not very ballad heavy at all with only 'Midnights another day' and 'Southern California' as the real full blown ballads. IF this was Brians last work (And I hope it isn't) it's a good one to go out on as it encompasses most of his styles and is autobiographical and would be his strongest solo album I would imagine.
If its an album (which it should be) I would not be averse to having more songs on there (choice stuff from the Paley sessions and other outtakes perhaps re-recorded like GIOMH but more cohesively), the overall 'theme' is a bit flimsy so as long as musically the other stuff was up to it then Brian could make a real sprawling masterwork!!

It was indeed a brilliant show.

Just posted a full review which you can find at

http://s3.excoboard.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=31674&threadid=172164&page=5

but I thought Brian was operating on a much higher level than I've seen before. Really involved and having fun. I think he was even playing that bass this time. Great gig!

"Good Kind Of Love" ----- "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"


Is just magical.  WOW

The background part to "Going home" sounds like "oh poopie..."   :-D


EDIT: Damn, of course it is sh it and not "poopie"  :)

Can someone Please Make me happy  ;D

Saw the concert twice and it was fabulous. And contrary to what one of the rviews said, there was at least one grown man with tears rolling down his cheeks on opening night (from the snippet of Can't Wait to Long right through MAD. Various of the TLOS melodies have been popping in and out of my head since. This morning it was Southern california and I wonder whether anyone else hears Passing By in it? I'm just relying on my memory of it so I could be off-base or on the other hand maybe it's so obvious everyone else has already been commenting on it. Let me know.

I like how tender Brian's voice sounds in some parts, I don't even think he did that in SMiLE.  Not that this is better than SMiLE or anything, but I love the stuff towards the end of Oxygen to the Brain, for instance.  And of course MAD he sounds pretty tender in.  I haven't heard him use his voice so expressively on anything new he's done. 

Good call Ron, I hear this too...the "Wilson" timbre is really heard again... beautiful.

It would totally ruin my day if someone PM'd me a link to that recording......

Oh yes, indeed! Some notes are a bit shaky, but then Brian pulls it of with "... made me feel so aloooone"... precious!

I found a recording on the web....and I'm just listening for the second straight time.

My god, TLOS is beautiful. I really hope it gets good audiences and that Brian records it...this must be recorded for release.

MAD makes me cry.

Yes. MAD is good on its own, but in the context of the piece, and with the band -- it's brutally beautiful.

I too would love to hear from any Prime Ministers out there...

The one thing I can't tell in any recordings :) is how well the harmony is done and things, you can't really get a good judge of the mix and the different things that are going on.  I hope he releases a live version or a studio version of this, it would be great!  Some parts of the "Lucky Old Sun" harmonies just sound incredible but you can't tell exactly what's going on in the boots, especially at the end of "Good kind of Lovin" or whatever it's called. 

Mine too. Without a doubt!

Edit: Sorry just realised you can't post links to bootlegs..my bad  ::)

"The Sun Keeps On Shinin'
He rolls around heaven above
A Little Bit of Lovin' and a kissin and a huggin
That's how they know it's love!"


Brian Wilson had to write that.  LOL. 

Parts of it sound inspired by Van Dyke's "Song Cycle."

Subtle. :lol

The recording I found is very clear, and all I did was one google search.  I can certainly make out all the lyrics and get the harmonies. It isn't professional but it is better than the SMiLE boots that were circulating in the days after SMiLE was debuted.

I've been playing it at work, and people here like it. I am still amazed by it.

 I've listened to the boot 4 times now. TLOS is magnificent, far better than I had dared hope it would be. 
On my first listen I wasn't totally convinced that Mexican Girl should be there but the more I listen the more it fits. I've also thought that maybe Going Home and Southern California should be swapped around

Anyway, I'm look forward to the Manchester show even more now I've heard it already.

I'm probably the only person to praise "Mexican Girl" as one of the highpoints of the new work. There are so many great pieces in it, I can't get enough of it. I wish that some parts would be a bit longer, like a completed "Can't Wait Too Long", it's so good that I want more.

Oh yes, that was possibly my only disappointment, Can't Wait Too Long is too short. I'm sure it was a great surprise for those that witnessed the premier but I knew it was coming and thought we'd get a little more than we did. 
Hopefully it will be longer on the now eagerly awaited CD release :-) For a standard 45-50 minute CD it needs something to be added. Speaking of which, I wouldn't want the extra time taken up by an extended Forever My Surfer Girl because I think it works better in it's shorter form.

I like happiness. The happiest thing another person can do is to make someone else happy. Anyone wanna make me happy too?  ;D ;)

the key to happiness is reading the board rules...

I am so happy.  ;D ;D ;D

*nothing*

This is ridiculous.

 ;)

Don't any of you have any google-fu?

Hmmm - I fear too much publicity and the ol' Zap site won't be long for the world !  :-\

This might not be pertinent, but I get the feeling that the impact of this tour and work are being blunted by Brian touring so much between BWPS and TLOS.  At least a couple of the reviews seem to indicate that, as well as ticket sales.   But hopefully that won't prevent a release.  I think a good live recording would work as well or better than making a formal studio recording. 

I do think the extensive touring is probably holding down sales--it isn't a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence to see Brian in the UK now. It's an annual one.

As for the album, I have to disagree. I think that Brian's voice is just not consistently good enough. Granted, if it were a composite mix taking the best parts of each night, maybe it could be OK. But I don't like background audience noise, either.

I'd rather have a true studio effort. Don't misunderstand--not an overwrought one. I don't want the passion removed, or something slick and slimy like Imagination. But I think the band could very easily do their work in a couple of days (as they did with Smile), and then spend slightly more time making sure BW gets his parts down with both heart and accuracy.

Curiosity killed the cat.

I agree Luther, I would much prefer a studio recording to a live one.  Aside from the fact that I'm not big on live music, I think that especially in Brian's case, a studio recording will bring out the best in Brian and the band.  Too much gets lost in a live mix, even if it is done professionally.  Besides, this is Brian "dog ears" Wilson we're talking about.  The king of the recording studio.  As well as TLOS has been received, I can't imagine Brian not wanting to get into a studio to record it.  If the production is anything like on "Midnight's Another Day", I think it has the potential to be an amazing recording. 

Just heard Wedensday's show.  Much clearer, Brian sounds much better, and the addition of Taylor apparently much healthier and singing her parts makes it a muuuuuch better show. 

Want to add my voice to the chorus of approval here... went on the last RFH night on Sunday, loved it!

Brian's voice was much better than I'd ever imagined. I almost thought at some points that he was doing a great impersonation of The Lovester^TM (on california girls for example)

Standout tracks on the night were "Sloop" and - of course - MAD. The snatch of "Can't wait too long" physically took my breath away. Lucky Old Sun's patches of brilliance are, well, brilliant.

I enjoyed the hits set at the end, perhaps not as much as the rest of the show.

A little comment: "she knows me too well" being one of my favourite songs, and being perfectly arranged on record, its hard to better this live, maybe they should think of an acapella version, or...

Great night. Hope everyone here catches this soon.

To be honest I didn't see the point of doing 'She knows me too well' (sung by Jeff), I know its a good song, but I'd rather hear Brian singing something else than just doing another track off 'Today' for the sake of it.

It's one of my favorite Beach Boys-songs, so I am very happy that it was played. Guess everyone has another opinion of it

I gotta go find that... even the September 10th show sounds great, I can't imagine how good Wednesday would be. That excerpt from Can't Wait Too Long is utterly gorgeous. Even on the audience recording the harmonies are magnificent.

I wonder if we'll get many opportunities to see this show here in the midwestern USA.

... and yet the DVD 'live' version of Smile is the one I listen to these days - hardly ever the CD.

I'd Love Just Once to See You, and others... on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/burner007

whee!

While listening to my new favorite section:
"little bit of lovin,
a huggin and a kissin"

on the 2nd song...anyone notice a similarity to that?

it sounds a whole lot like the ending to Maxwell's Silver Hammer!

From the clip I heard, I thought the start of California Role/Roll sounded like the New Vaudeville Band! But very 1967. Sounds like it has huge potential to be the best thing BW has done since about 1970. I'm going on Monday (Birmingham Symphony Hall - certainly before the RFH was refurbished, the best sounding concert hall in the UK - all suspended on rubber, apparently).

Does anybody else think that "Forever you'll be my surfer girl" sounds like "don't stand so close to me" by the Police??

Did I hear correctly that one of the sentences Brian sings is: "Every girl the next Marilyn"?

Yep. As in Marilyn Monroe.

I've listened to TSOL a few times and only MAD stands out for me, so far.

I think the next line is "Every guy, Errol Flynn"

Actually, I think it's "every guy, Rocky Pamplin"

Easy mistake to make.

No. I agree with you. Its one of my favourite Beach Boys songs too.. Very under-rated in my opinion.

I kept hearing "Rollin' up to Heaven" throughout the entire piece. In fact, one of the lyrics to part of a song is "Rollin' up to Heaven all day long". It makes me wonder if Brian has actually heard the song before.  ;D

Don't get me wrong - I love the song! But partly the reason I like it is because of the way Brian sings it and to be honest though Jeff is a good singer i'm not really struck on his voice.

For me the highpoints are MAD, Oxygen To The Brain and Southern California and the Been Too Long snippet also. These 3 new ones feel like 70s BW compositions to me and have that classic BW feel. The Southern California melody is really beautiful.

I like Going Home a lot too, and Good Kind Of Love is growing on me. I'm not massively keen on FYBMSurfer Girl, Mexican Girl, Live Let Live or California Role but I may come round to these and certainly when they're recorded in a studio I might prefer them. I must admit the mock English accent at the start of Califonia Role does my head in a bit and I wish Brian will sing this on the eventual recording, but I suspect it'll remain the same. Overall though the piece has surpassed my expectations and it's great to hear new and fresh sounding compositions from Brian. It has a really 20s feel throughout - I can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's the instruments used.

That boot of the 12th seems to be missing Been Way Too Long - has anyone found a boot that isn't missing this bit?

"BWTL" is the underscore to a short video section of the Wilson Brothers - lasts under a minute, towards the end of the piece.

It's one of my favourites too, and on the opening night Brian sang it with Jeff (an octave below). It certainly sounded better with Jeff singing solo, but yes it does kind of defeat the object.
What I'd really love to hear is Brian singing another song off Today far more suited to his current register: In The Back Of My Mind.

I like Scott's intro and don't think of it as a mock English accent-- it's really an imitation of the singing style that was popular in the 20s. The pronunciation is a little bit different, but it's more like early movie actors in the U.S. were taught to speak for the "talkies."

I like California Role, but I'm a sucker for that corny stuff. I even love Beatles songs like Honey Pie, too.

I'm TOTALLY with you on that one.  Brian could definitely pull this one off with his current voice, and the band/Stockholm Strings could nail Brian's brilliant arrangement.  As much as I love "She Knows Me Too Well", Brian obviously can't sing it anymore (the singing down the octave thing he does doesn't work), so I don't really see the point of doing it in concert.  Jeff sounds great, but nobody can replicate Brian's amazing vocal on the original.

As for "In the Back of My Mind", you never know...I never thought I'd hear Brian do "I'd Love Just Once To See You" in concert, so there's always a chance!

i think this set of songs are prolly the most non-meloncaly tunes Brian's wrote since 1967

Yes you're right - this only occurred to me today as I realised there'd be absolutely no reason to sing a song about California in an English accent!

The legendary Dickie Crickets!?!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PlhJOzH0gY

 ;D

I like Scott's intro and don't think of it as a mock English accent-- it's really an imitation of the singing style that was popular in the 20s. The pronunciation is a little bit different, but it's more like early movie actors in the U.S. were taught to speak for the "talkies."


[/quote] Exactly. I hear Al Jolson when I listen to it.

Has no one here watched Singing In The Rain? The Beautiful Girl segment is a perfect parody of the style Scott is singing in California Role.

begining of California Role reminds me of Winchester Cathedral, which is kinda vaudville, isn't it?

I am reminded of "DW Washburn" by the Coasters (written by Leiber&Stoller) by that intro.
I agree that the singing is kinda like Al Jolson.

I agree, it's very 1920s-esque.

Well then, "California Role" might be Brian's belated revenge on the New Vaudeville Band whose "Winchester Cathedral" stole the 1966 Grammy For Best Rock Song away from "Good Vibrations"!

I've been listening to this thing all day, and I'm just in awe at parts of it.  It's very intelligently written, and like SMiLE has things going on in 5 different levels.  Here's just a few random thoughts I noticed while listening to it...

-  Along with the 'journey through the day' vibe of the movement, there's also a 'journey through Brian Wilson's life" vibe in the movement. 

- "Oxygen to the Brain" seems to come around at about the afternoon part of the movement... if it starts at dawn and ends in the early hours of the morning.... "Oxygen to the Brain" is about Brian's laziness and his whole quirky health-kick, slept through the 70's persona.... so essentially, in the day Brian describes in "Lucky Old Sun".... Brian doesn't wake up, fittingly, until sometime in the afternoon.  "Open Up, Open Up, Open your eyes".....  Brian sings this so tenderly in concert, wow!  He sounds flat out amazing on the parts near the end of the song, so expressive.  Not only does he sing lightly and expressively in his 'kinda falsetto' voice he has now, but he also has other parts where he shouts the song, and it sounds great!  He and his cowriters perfectly made a song that shows off his insane side and also opens up and gets soft and beautiful at the same time.  Great song, one of my favorites he's done in years.  The musical production on this is out of site, too, listen to the march going on in the background during the chorus. 

- "Live Let Live" seems to be an ecological song praising the beauty of California's sea, the lyrics are exceptional, I love this song.  Again Brian sounds great on this live, in my opinion.  They double a lot of the lines, but his quasi-falsetto weak whispy voice sounds great doing these light melodies in this whole entire piece.  It's kind of got a "Sail on, Sailor" vibe, and although I can't make it out completely it's got some really beautiful lines about the fish and the whales in the ocean, etc with Brian doing everything from sailing to scuba diving apparently, lol!

- "Mexican Girl" grows on you, and I suppose is a homage to the hispanic population of southern california.  The Mariachi Horns show up in the narration and then the song after it, as well. 

- "California Role" is great.  Obviously written by Van Dyke Parks, and the lyrics about how basically anybody can go to california and make their way is great... he's got something in there too about Rock & Roll with a wordplay thing going on about Roll/Role etc. that's just phenomenal. 

- "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" is just majestic, think about the different things going on there.  One, he's singing about the girl in the preceding piece, "Good Kind Of Love"; Two, he's singing about his first love....; Three, he's singing a generic love song anybody can relate to...; Four, he's singing about the first ballad he ever produced, which drove him on to fame.... and it's all kind of wrapped up in the same damn song.  There's no black and white, it could easily be about any of those things, and kind of is all at the same time... kind of like life really is, no blacks or whites just lots of grays.  He's consistantly writing and has written songs that are 4 or 5 levels deep and mean different things to different people all at the same time.  That's no easy task, that's masterful.

- "Going Home" kicks ass.  Put in the frame of the movement representing Brian's progression through life, it kind of represents this current period of his life, with "Home" representing him rightfully regaining his position as a relevant musician, but also of course representing spiritually going home as he heads towards his impending death!  The acapella break with "At 25, I turned out the lights!" is just jaw droppingly good.  Admit it.  It's easy.  It's simple to point at, but Nada do deus it doesn't get much better than that, that is EXACTLY what we want to hear Brian Wilson say! It's incredible, frankly.

- "Southern California" is just achingly beautiful.  The main little melody and the harmonies in the chorus are nothing short of gorgeous, you can hear your heart break when you hear them sing that.  Brian's broken voice just makes you want to cry it's so perfectly suited for this song.  This is proof that used properly, Brian's current vocal range and condition is just as much an instrument as it ever was.  "In Southern California... Dreams wake up for ya" what a beautiful sentiment, how is it possible that somebody that has been through so much hell and loss in his life, can find it in his muddled mind to see something so beautifully optimistic?  Just stunning that he's capable of this in this stage of his career and life. 


Brian knocked it out of the park with this.  SMiLE holds precedence because of it's historical significance and it's creativity, but this song suite is just as valid and perhaps even more beautiful than SMiLE.  If you're the type of person that can make a good argument for the "Today!" album being a masterpiece, then I think you have to concede that "That Lucky Old Sun" is a masterpiece in it's own right.  Just stunning to me!  Such a great album, I cannot *wait* for the studio versions. 

I completely agree with everything you've just said, Ron. And I couldn't have described "Going Home" better:


Enough said. This could easily become a "Wilson Classic", along with "Midnight's Another Day".

Yup! On the youtube video, you could see a bit of the narrative 'video' in the background,  I imagine the entire songsuite makes more sense and gets better if you have the appropriate video to go along with it.  I didn't mention "Midnights Another Day" above because it's pretty generally loved, no need for me to go back over it. 

Has anyone mentioned the music that the band is playing under the narrative sections? I started paying attention to that on the third or fourth listen. It's quite beautiful, reminding me of Gershwin in some parts.

So what's the clearest version doing the rounds atm?
I've only got hold of the first night and it's OK but could be better.
I've really grown to love the songs which on first hearing I didn't. "forever..surfer girl" is growing on me and I can hear "Good Kind of Love" sounding a bit like "Soulfull Old Man Sunshine", a really swinging tune. The groove on 'California Role' is also excellent, really groovy!
CWTL completely brings back the memories of the night and from that moment through to the end I'm just blown away. I still get a lump listening to MAD, every time.
'Going Home' is up there with 'Do it Again' as my fave Brian 'rocker', the 'At 25' breakdown going in to the harmonica solo had me in shivers on the night and it still does, it's beautiful AND it rocks, that's what I love about Bri's rockier tunes.
I cant wait (can't wait..) to see an official release of this, as a DVD-Audio in surround with the video's from the show on screen. How good would that be? I'm also really excited as to what Bri and band will get around to next. It looks like things could be getting really interesting (in a good way!! ;D )

'California Role' sounds to me like something Elvis could've sung in Las Vegas - who'd have thought these tracks would all be so "big band" in a very unironic early 70s way ? especially agree with the comment about the background  music in the commentaries... really great stuff.

Well, Brian did record some tracks with big-band backing -- both the original Christmas album and the mid-70s songs like "Life is for the Living." He likes Sinatra-style stuff, too -- recall the lounge-y "I wanna be around" from Smile.

I'm sorry but I totally disagree. This doesn't sound like the stuff Elvis did in the 70s (not only Vegas) imo...
If you're talking about Costello, then I don't know.....

Somebody asked what the clearest version is, mentioning that opening night is OK. I've found several versions of the opening night, there is an uncompressed WAV out there if you search...sounds very much like somebody had  a Zoom with them...

I've been listening to it a LOT. Everyone to whom I have played "Going Home"  loves it, though most don't hear the lyrics or realise their significance.

I think the only track that doesn't work in context for me is Mexican Girl...though I do love the ending and segue into the next section. As a stand alone song, I quite like Mexican Girl.

Otherwise Brian has proved again that he is one of the few artists who can craft an album...rather than just put together a collection of songs. You have to accept that SMiLE was putting together something that was almost complete...but this is new (or at least 90% new). Brian has done it again. He takes us on an emotional journey, and a journey through the decades...from 60's LA to the present day and his present state of mind. And he does it with songs...every one of which stands up on its own but the whole compels you to keep listening. THAT is an album. It is a complete work. And in this case, it is probably a masterpiece.

I echo the thoughts of those who say "I can't wait for a studio version". But I do hope Brian and co keep it pretty much as it is here..rather than padding it out to 45 minutes....a work is complete when it is complete, and TLOS is complete in my humble opinion. Maybe produce a multi page CD booklet (or vinyl gatefold) with images as projected in the stage presentation......then do a live DVD in the mold of BWPS before a special audience.

This just in - had a word with Scotty last night in Edinburgh: the song in "TLOS" that was originally "Wondering What You're Up To Now" is "California Role".

I've heard the Wednesday now and I think, apart from the digital ticks (at least on my copy), it's clearer in general but the balance of instruments/vocals and the 'power' of the sound isn't so smart compared to the mondays. It's much easier to hear the lyrics though and work out what the vocal harmonies are up to.
Interesting that '..up to now' became 'California Role', it reminds me of an Hawaiian version of 'Don't Be Cruel' in places :)
I feel the same as others about Mexican Girl - I can take it or leave it mostly though that 'L&M'ish chord sequence near the end, with the harmonies on top, really do it for me.
I was wondering whether 'Southern California' was always supposed to close the piece. Lyrically it sounds like it should have come earlier - dreaming, waking up, etc. It's a lovely ending though, sort of an epilogue to the piece.

Sorry if this was posted before, but I hear the 1980 outtake "Going To The Beach" in "Good Kind Of Love".

To me, after listening a few more times, the song that dissapoints the most is "Morning Beat"!  When I listen to SMiLE, I kind of get overdone with allll of the Heroes and Villians stuff which comes in a similar spot, I don't know why I'm never happy with the first proper 'track' of either album.  Hmmmm...

One of several sublime moments last night in Birmingham came when Brian said, half way through the first half, ' let's sing Lucky Old Sun'... and they went into a 2-minute  a capella of the song, after which someone said 'do you really want to do Lucky old Sun now Brian, and BW said, 'oh no, we'll do it in the second half, that was just a sample!' The a capella was spectacular. Its true antecedent, and I'm surprised no-one's mentioned this, is 'Soulful Old Man Sunshine'.  In the full version, Mexican Girl totally took off (a bit like Fire in Smile live), so those who've only heard the tapes should reserve judgment. Brian fluffed his start of 'Midnight' coming in a bar ot two too early, but it only served to highlight an incredibly powerful performance, backlights against his white shirt, really just Brian and Scott with gorgeous harmonies. Ditto harmonies on the Southern California ending. 'Forever You'll...' really is a great song.

Other highlights for me:
- the greatest hits at the end, which seemed a bit perfunctory in 2004, were done with real passion and verve last night, and not overdone. Great theatrics from the girls from Stockholm (especially the larger one, hmmm), and BW's bass playing was great.
- overall BW looked so much better than in 04, totally with it (though what was that joke about 'China'??)
- When the strings came in for the first time in the evening, on the 'you know it seems...' part of 'Wouldn't it be nice', the Symphony Hall was awash with sumptuous sound in deep blue light
- 'Little Girl I Once Knew' - fantastic performance

I got a feeling this could be the last time Brian plays in the UK. I hope not.

I'm certainly not disappointed with Morning Beat, I think it gets things off to a flying start and if/when it is recorded for release this track will hook in listeners who aren't Brian fans.

From the recordings I'd agree that the "hits" package after Sun is performed with more verve than in 2004 - certainly on the recordings I have from '04 and the concert I attended in Portsmouth. Not that they were at all bad in '04, hell it got me dancing and I never dance, but there's more "umph" this time around.

And Brian isn't slurring any words. He sings them like he's enjoying them...and that's great to hear.

I was at Manchester and just want to say what a great performance it was.  Brian's vocals have sounded great in the bootlegs but live they are even better. He's really putting everything he's got into this and it's great to see.

I guess Brian did the same China joke in Birmingham, which is before Little Girl I once knew he says "The first two notes sound Chinese but the rest is American," kind of funny because when they play the first two notes it does sound a bit Chinese.
He fluffed the start of MAD at Manchester too, but the intro is long and I didn't realise he had got it wrong until he said the same line twice.
All in all, a beautiful performance that I will never forget.

I do wonder about how much this tour has been promoted though because I got lost on my way and had to ask directions to the Palace Theatre. I spoke withthis dude for a few minutes and he asked me what I was going to see. I said Brian Wilson and it turns out he is a fan but had no idea Brian was playing Manchester that night or was even in the country.
If there is another tour over here, I hope they can reach out and let a few more people know they are coming.

The promotional flyers for Manchester and Birmingham did not include the other dates, which implies that different companies were responsible for different parts of the tour - not a good sign. Having said that, Birmingham SH was pretty much full.

On a frivolous note, just thought I'd mention that while Jeff Foskett has slimmed down a lot since his surgery in 2004, Scott and Darian seem to have both put a lot on around the middle! Time for some H.E.L.P.? Taylor looked delightful and good-natured throughout.

At Brum BW simply said ' I dedicate this song to China' which was a bit obtuse even for the rest of the band.

I like your 'obtuse' comment, That's a good way to describe the way Brian acts sometimes...

on one of the SMiLE bootlegs of the live concerts, there was this great thing he said... they had this little game they'd play after one song, where Brian would ask the band if they wanted to go on a trip, and then they'd banter around a bit, and eventually settle on that they wanted to go to Hawaii! Then they'd sing Hawaii, see how funny that is?

So anyways, at this one show, they kind of started that conversation a bit, with Brian going "Hey, you guys want to go on a trip?"  but then they got sidetracked because somebody said something about Jeff's shirt.  So for about a full minute, they talked about Jeff's shirt and some other things, all the while Brian's quiet.  After what seems like forever, Brian says something like

"HEy! Hawaii's A Great Song We Could Sing!"

Maybe Brian needs to give them some health tips  :-D

Something that I don't think has been mentioned is that not only is Brian's singing voice much improved, his voice on the narrations is very clear with no slurring. I know they were pre-recorded, but it shows that he can do it.

I thought Brian did a great job as well when he "voiced" himself for the Duck Dodgers cartoon a couple of years back; sounded a lot like his younger self. He reportedly had a great time during the DD recording session which may have convinced him to do the spoken word portions of TLOS himself.

I would still prefer to hear Van Dyke read the narrative on record. He has a wonderful reading voice.

I agree.  It was nice to hear Brian speaking so clearly again.  Even though his voice is a bit lower in timbre now, his actual speaking was just as clean as is was on the "Smog" speech.

I think him having his teeth fixed may have helped.

Do I hear a turn in the melody of "Midnight's another day" that sounds like a brief portion of the song "Brian Wilson"?

So, I'm not the only one then! Yeah part of it sounds like the "if you wanna find me I'll be out in my sandbox"part of Brian Wilson.

Just thought I'd highlight this vid...BW's in great form. I think maybe he enjoys singing 'covers' more than his own stuff, 'Then I Kissed Her' on the first night blew me away at the time.

Johnny B Goode from Edinburgh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGvvTHzCZ9A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGvvTHzCZ9A)

As Biz Markie said..."damn it feels good to see people up on it!"

Hope more of this vid turns up, so far it's just the 'hits' section at the end.

I really love this band and what they've brought to BW and his music. Back in 1988 (when I first 'discovered' BW) I never thought I'd see him where he is today. This band and the enthusiasm of BW's current audiences make the gigs so full of energy and love, and TLOS is by far the best new music from the man in a LONG time. I hope it keeps going in this direction!

I agree. It grew on me with repeated listenings. The "...hear the voices softly coming..." part is just beautiful. And the rockin' parts have that 70's BW vibe, sound a bit like something the BB would have done between "Carl & the Passions" & "Love You".


BTW, my favorite Brian song announcement is "Here's a song I don't like at all" for "Sail On, Sailor". :-D

He shouldn't play it then!

He does a great job on "Johnny b. goode" and even gets most of the lyrics right. Let's not forget that these lyrics aren't as simple as "Barbara Ann" for example.
I think it's cool that Jeff plays the guitar behind his head, as James Burton did exactly the same thing on the same song when he was Elvis' guitarist in the 70s, only that he did it throughout the whole performance of JBG

But he still sang it brilliantly at Birmingham, word and note perfect and with some feeling and personal touches - his 'Damn the thunder' especially effective.

this is the one song i think he should not play. he seems to miss almost every note in it. just not suited to singing it

Isn't "Sail On Sailor" on Classics: Selections By Brian Wilson? Emphasis on BY BRIAN WILSON....

Good point...I suppose its just another example of Brian's fleeting mind.  Consistency hasn't exactly been his strong suit.

Or maybe he just didn't feel like doing it that particular night and it came out as "I don't like this song".  Who knows?

Re: SOS. It's weird, because the band really digs into the song, which is why they do it, I think. But Brian has never exactly been up to it vocally.

On the other hand, he tends to kick ass with Marcella -- and wrote a whole new section of it just for live performance.

If you mean Taylor's little intro, he didn't write that - it's the original intro.

Original as in the BB version on so tough or original demo?

Another one for the 'sounds a bit like...' discussion: the section before the chorus in good kind of love (she keeps it in a jar but not too far etc) is almost identical in melody and chords to the verse of brian's back (we once took a cab out of salt lake city now)

Duh ! I meant the original intro to "I'm So Young"... which is what it is. Sorry, suffering from BW burnout.

Wow! I would have never spotted that. Good call, Andrew.

Anyhow, my point was that it was cool to see the song revamped a little bit with the new intro -- Brian playing keys, Taylor vocalizin'. And Brian seems to dig it.

Brian's said many times that he doesn't like Sail on Sailor's lyrics... I don't know why, I think they're pretty decent.  It started out with him saying back in the day that they were a little weird.  Now it's progressed to him saying "I don't like this song at all" LOL  I think he's just hating it more and more as time goes by.  The piano is just killer in that, I suppose that's probably Brian playing it on the original, didn't he produce the track, kind of?

No doubt he played on the famous Van Dyke Parks write-a-middle-eight tape, but I expect Captain Keyboards played it on 'Holland'. Anyway, he sang it really well in Birmingham  (sorry, I already said that).

He supposedly "co-produced" it over the phone.
Brian might dislike Sail On Sailor's lyrics because of the simple fact that too many people had a hand in altering them. It's quite obvious from what he says about it in the Warmth of the Sun podcast. That said, in terms of lyrics I like the Holland version A LOT more than the KGB version, which reportedly contains the original set of words as penned by Ray Kennedy.

Just found this on the web...not sure where it comes from but it really struck a chord with me

"Is That Lucky Old Sun any good? I truly have no idea. It's too complex a piece, and too multi-layered, and the performance of it too bound up in personal expectations, for any kind of judgement to be made on one hearing. But in a sense, the question doesn't matter. That Lucky Old Sun is exciting - in a way that no-one could have expected. This is the work of a 65-year-old man. 65 year old men don't make exciting music. Paul McCartney's new album might be quite pleasant, but he knows no-one's going to remember him as 'the man who made Memory Almost Full', and it shows. Brian Wilson appears not to have given up hope that he'll be remembered as 'the man who made That Lucky Old Sun', and it's just about possible that he might."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3L6WS0XVPA5IV

PS I've been listening to the rather quickly assembled studio recording of "Forever She'll be my Surfer Girl" on BW's official site...and I am astonished at the vocals Brian can now do in the studio. If he really is enthusiastic about TLOS and sits down to record it properly...the sky is the limit...

And what's funny is -- at least according to what was said at the performances -- Darian put the whole shebang together. One wonders how much Brian really thought of it as a cohesive whole -- but it still works. The songs are that strong.

Oh I'm so glad that I finally found somebody who thinks the same about this (short) vocal line! The first time I heard this section I was sure I'd heard it before...

On the first nights show Jeff introduced Paul Mertens as doing most of the linking sections between tracks, Scott as working on the lyrics and Darian as also working on some of the structure and such. I think it's exactly what BW needs, people who can facilitate his ideas and  give a bit of focus to what Brian's doing.

I think that over the years there's  been a lack of focus from BW and a lack of support from the group he's working with. Now we have a band who not only 'get' BW but also are supportive, understanding and, not least, really tallented and enthusiastic. There's also no ego-struggles against BW - they all respect his music and just want to a great job for the boss (BW, not Melinda! ;D )

Ultimately, we've ended up with (imho) the best new music BW has been involved with since the 60s and although I'm sure he had a fair bit of help putting it together at least it got finished and performed on time! :)

Eden -- I'm with you on this. It's a great piece of work.

But I find it interesting that what a lot of people seem to react to in TLOS -- the Smile-like organization, linking tracks, etc. -- seems to be the part he had less involvement in.

And the organization is brilliant, too. MAD is just shattering where it is.

I like the music, the melodies. I don't care if it's Smile-esque, I don't care about the narration. I like the songs. The lyrics, not so much. But the songs themselves, I dig.

But I do have to say my favorite part of the whole thing is the first minute of California Role... which is the only part Brian doesn't sing on.

That's my least favourite part for exactly the same reason!! (Actually it's growing on me, but I find the faux old-timey accent a bit corny and I fear it's going to grate on me in much the same way that the "You're Under Arrest" bit does on BWPS). I should stop being so miserable though as overall I think this new work is great and benefits from the cohesion that Brian's team have undoubtedly bought to it, as others are mentioning here.

I think that first minute of "California Role" is great. But then I understand what it is supposed to sound like...1930s style singing...fitting in perfectly with the song's theme of travelling to Hollywood in search of their dreams...

TLOS and who put it together...I've heard the recording where it is said Darian did work putting it together. While this somehwat dilutes my earlier posting that TLOS proves Brian is one of the few artists who can still put a proper album together, it is still highly likely that TLOS is a true collaboration. Many great songwriters work best with a collaborator, and that has always been the case with Brian Wilson.

Whatever the truths of how TLOS was sequenced, the fact is that Brian wrote the music and worked with Scott Bennett on the lyrics...and the songs in TLOS are the best things to come from Brian probly since the 70's. Sure, his previous solo albums had their moments but this is consistently great.

I have to say, the idea of Darian putting it together into a linked song cycle doesn't matter at all to me. The linking music with narration is cool, but if it were just the songs themselves, I'd be just as impressed. They're good songs. And even if Darian had significant input on the music--or Scott, which is rarely mentioned because everyone assumes he just did lyrics, and which is probably a wrong assumption--it doesn't bother me a bit. You can probably count on your fingers how many really good songs Brian Wilson wrote and arranged entirely on his own. Even the musicians from the '60s have always talked about how willing he was to take input and collaborate with anyone, and there is no shame whatsoever in that as long as he's using it to shape his general vision, he takes an interest and he makes the final calls.

Just as impressive to me is his singing, which IMHO is his best in about, oh, I dunno,35 years or so. It's not the timbre of his voice, rather, it's the way he's using it. Gone is the shouty monotone (yes, I know that's kind of  an oxymoron, but it fits) of his other solo albums. I love his singing, esp on MAD. Brilliant.

I agree that he's expressive, but the singing is a reason for me why there has to be a studio album. There are times on the live recordings where Jeff is doubling him and, frankly, Brian is really bad. It isn't such a big deal if you're just doing a lead, btu when the part is a part of a harmony, one bad voice can really ruin it. Coupling it with another, doubling voice, and it's worse. A good studio recording will let him take his time and nail each part.

That said, he really is singing well (for him these days) and you're right that especially on MAD, it's amazing. I've admitted before, the first live recording I heard of that song, after the background vocals swell and he sings the "...make me feel so alo-whoa-oh-one," I got a bit teary-eyed. And there are other parts of the song cycle, too, that he's just singing his ass off.

I actually think it's the doubling that throws him off key a lot of time, but maybe it's just me...

I don't see how a voice on-key would throw a person off-key. I think it just makes the off-key voice more noticeable, frankly. (Two notes that are just slightly different--less than a half-step--make a grating sound, like two waves fighting. It's like a chorus effect. And if the 80s taught us anything, it's that a chorus effect SUCKS.  ;D)

Plus, he seems to want people doubling him as a security blanket. I know for sure in the Smile doc he says something about "I can do it if you're doubling me, but otherwise I can't." And he might say something like that in the On Tour dvd, too, although I'm not certain.

Well, I'll play devils advocate here.  As I understand it, Brain has the fabled perfect pitch.  As I understand perfect pitch, most people sing in relative pitch which is to say that if they hit a c, it may not be a true c, maybe slightly, ever so slightly flat.. but they sing every note the same slightly off way, so that it sounds very good since everything's consistant.  Contrasted against a band or an instrument playing a melody or a rhythm, this makes most music sound great.

If somebody has perfect pitch, though, they hit the note dead on (if they're capable of it) or at least have the ability to hear notes as they truly ring and should sound dead on pitch... so if someone is an accomplished singer (as Brian most undoubtedly is) AND has perfect pitch, when they sing they'll be shooting for singing perfectly on pitch as opposed to relative pitch. 

If somebody who has perfect pitch was singing the exact same melody at the exact same time as somebody who had relative pitch, I could see where the two would contrast and one of them wouldn't be able to discern quite how to hit the note. 

That's must my cursory, uneducated knowledge of it.  I may be full of sh*t. 

You're right Luther.  I notice that at times with Brian as well.  Doubling with someone who is on key is harder for the person singing on key, not the other way around!  It takes quite a bit of concentration to stay on key while hearing someone going flat or whatever while you do it.  Brian of all people should know that doubling to cover up an off-pitch performance doesn't work.  You are right in that he uses it as a security blanked, but I think in many cases its just a general case of Brian not being able to sound good enough on his own anymore.  So Jeff doubles and tries to mitigate the effect.  I would almost rather hear Brian just go flat than hearing the ugly chorus effect you described (it grates on me too!). 

As a person with perfect pitch, I'd say you've got some of the general idea.  It's not so much about being able to sing the pitch exactly right; a well trained singer can do that without knowing what note they are singing.  Perfect pitch is more about note identification.  When someone hits an F on a piano, a person with perfect pitch will tell you what it is almost instantly, just because they "know" what an F sounds like.  I would best equate it with answering the phone and knowing who you are talking to without them having to tell you.

Its hard to describe really.  I guess I like to think of it as having an inner-ear tuner at your disposal at all times.  For instance, when I learn a song on piano, I never reference the recording.  I just remember it, and can figure out the chords from playing the song back in my head.  I have a really good musical memory for whatever reason, to the point where I can sit down and learn a song I haven't heard for years, in the correct key.  So for me, having perfect pitch is useful mostly in the area of learning songs from memory.  The other stuff that comes with it isn't really that useful...I mean its nice and everything that I know that my car horn is a B flat, but there really isn't any practical value in being able to hear that.  People just think I'm weird when I hear a noise and identify the note.  Again, fun but useless.  Hope that helps.

According to Carl, many years ago admittedly, in his opinion Brian didn't have perfect pitch but perfect relative pitch.

As another person with perfect pitch I can pitch in (pun intended)

It is hard to describe because I know nothing else. I don't understand what it is like *not* to have perfect pitch, I don't understand why some people believe they are singing in tune when they are way off...but it must be that they don't hear the difference.

I know that I am able to listen to a singer and instantly say "That person is one quarter of a tone sharp" (or flat). I've even helped singing teachers identify where their pupils need to improve because the teacher cannot be sure when the singer is only fractionally inaccurate whether they are sharp or flat.

Likewise, though I am not a regular singer at all, when I do sing I know if I am sharp or flat and to what degree. It doesn't necessarily help me hit the right notes...that is what practise is for.

I do notice Brian sometimes starts singing (probably) deliberately flat and glisandos up to the correct note. this is quite easy on the ear, and helps him reach the heights.

I think he can do more in the studio (with multiple takes) than he can live...when sometimes he simply doesn't manage to hit the right note. But the dude's 65...we can forgive him that!

I am sure Brian, with only one good ear, is at a disadvantage especially with a loud band around him. I would imagine he has a monitor in his good ear to help. Personally having somebody else singing in tune along with me would distract me...so the "security blanket" idea rings true...maybe Brian knows he can stop singing for a few seconds if he's way out because Jeff will be there covering him? That could give him the confidence to go out and sing in the first place.....that and the keyboard he sits behind....whatever works for Brian is fine by me as his concerts are great.

Ron, you're not quite right about your understandings of either perfect or relative pitch--but attempts at devil's advocacy are always welcome and fun.

Chris Brown is right about what perfect pitch is--someone who has it can't necessarily sing perfectly so much as hear perfectly. S/he can identify a pitch upon hearing it. The drummer in my old band has perfect pitch, but is only an average singer. (The flesh is weak but the spirit willing...)

Relative pitch has nothing to do with being able to sing the same every time. What it means is that a person can identify pitches and intervals relative to a certain pitch. So, for example, that person could identify a G based on someone playing or singing a C. The person with good relative pitch can hear a perfect 5th above the note he or she is given and figure out what that other note is. However, you could trick a person with good relative pitch by playing a B and saying it is a C. The person with good relative pitch would then find an F# and think it's a G--it's all about the pitches' relationships to one another that someone with relative pitch identifies.

Neither of the two guarantees on-key singing (if they did, even a cursory listen to a Brian Wilson show would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he didn't have perfect pitch). They have to do with hearing.

10 points to Luther for the General Brannigan reference! :lol

I think Brian knows his limitations these days.  His ear is still good, but his voice can't do what he wants it to.  That's why he needs Jeff or whoever to double him in live performances.  I am very hopeful for a studio recording of TLOS.  I just prefer the harmonies to be perfect.  A song like Midnight's Another Day doesn't require the lead voice to be perfect, but man, those Brian Wilson harmonies have got to be in tune.  I say if he needs to use pitch correction, then let him use it.

I don't have perfect pitch, but I know when I am singing off key.  I have good tonal memory, though.  I am able to put a new set of strings on my guitar, and tune the thing up so that the strings are playing the right notes (the 6th string will be tuned to an E, etc.) without the aid of a tuner or reference tone.  However, if I was asked to identify a note played on a different instrument, I might not get it right.  Another thing with me is the way my ear perceives pitch while performing with my band.  I did a show a couple of days ago, and the stage volume was pretty loud.  The vocal moniters were able to keep up, so I could hear mysef okay, but when the sound pressure levels exceed a certain point, I experience a strange sort of pitch shifting distortion.  For example, we did a song in E, and to my ear, I thought that I was singing in tune with the instruments, but when the song ended, and the stage got quiet, I played that same E chord on my guitar, and the whole chord sounded as if it was at a different pitch than what we had just played.  I thought, "My God, was I just singing this whole song a quarter tone off?".  Listening to a recording of the performance told me that I wasn't, so whatever is causing this pitch shifting thing in my ears, it's causing all instruments and all voices to shift equally.  I am constantly pleading with my band mates to play quieter on stage and to let the P.A. do the work.  I remember Brian having some difficulty with sound pressure levels early in his career, too.  He's got a lot of instruments on stage with him these days, and it probably gets a bit loud up there for him.     

I can tell you that a person with perfect pitch doesn't always translate to a singer with perfect pitch.

Exactly.  They really should come up with a new term for it, as "perfect pitch" is somewhat misleading (many people think it refers to singing ability, which it doesn't at all).  Like I said, there are great singers out there who can hit every note perfectly, but couldn't tell you what note they were singing if their life depended on it.  Having perfect pitch might help to a degree with singing (I can't imagine anyone having perfect pitch but being a terrible singer), but it really has nothing to do with singing ability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMWhfqVTMN4

Unfortunately I've seen that one before (so painful!).  I should have been more specific; I was referring to someone with perfect pitch who could never sing well in the first place. 

Brian is a different case, as he was an amazing singer who intentionally destroyed his voice.  He has never fully gained back the control he had before then, which must be incredibly frustrating.  That video was just a case of Brian thinking he was 22 again and trying to do it like he used to, only to have his ruined voice come out.  I'm not sure what made him think he could sing that lead with the voice he had, but it sure wasn't pretty!

Painful to watch, but you have to hand to Brian, he pulls it OK in the end with his best Ronnie Spector impersonation..

"EVerything will come out all right"

That is very true. I do have perfect pitch,and it is extremely difficulty for me to intentionally sing offkey, but sadly my voice itself is only average(although at my best I've been told I sound like a combo of Dennis Wilson,Scott Weiland and Daniel Johnston, which is both a compliment and an insult at the same time). Point is, I may have perfect pitch, but I'm mediocre as a vocalist.

I agree 'Mexican Girl' may not be the most immediate track in TLOS. The instrumental underneath it's great, though. Maybe we'll get a less 'busy' version at some stage. I hope any release also extends the tracks beyond their current limits.

I love the instrumental to that track, and don't mind everything going on, I actually think the lyrics are pretty good too.  I just don't have a problem with it.  I'm still not super high on "Morning Beat".  There's good parts but it's nowhere near as good as every other song (including Mexican Girl) on the set.

I feel Mexican Girl really is the weakest point of TLOS. I only hope that the "glory hallelujah" at the end is drawn out a measure or so longer. If feels like it just ends to soon.

Heres hoping the actual recording is as sweet and entertaining as the boots. :P

Not sure what you don't like about Morning beat, Ron, but I do get what people say about Mexican Girl.

Lately I've been forwarding through Mexican Girl when listening to TLOS...not that I think its bad, I just find that my train ride to work is around 30 minutes long and I need to cut out one track and it's Mexican Girl that goes.

To be honest, I have to say, if Mexican Girl is the "worst" song in TLOS....that speaks volumes about the quality of Brian's new suite. Because Mexican Girl in itself is in no way bad...and some of the musical stuff going on underneath the vocals is very interesting.

I think you're absolutely right...I'm not fond of "Mexican Girl", but I would hardly call it a bad song.  The other songs surrounding it are just so good that "Mexican Girl" suffers by comparison.  And who knows, maybe a studio recording will make me like it. 

I'm sorry I'm so late to the thread, but could someone Please Make me a happy BW fan?

Having just listened to the Friends bonus tracks, it struck me how much TLOS reminded me of Brian's arrangement of Old Folks At Home/Ol' Man River.

having just recently heard the Birmingham show from the 24th of September.. it really makes me look forward to the studio version.... in the week between that show and its debut.. there is a noticeable change in some of the arranging, backing vocals and such showing that it really is still a work in progress....

sadly, the only track that still leaves me real cold is "Oxygen to the Brain"... ecck (IMHO)

Re "Oxygen...," that's funny. Many people I've heard from rate it as one of the top three or so songs from TLOS.

To me, it's good. Catchy, kind of silly-sounding, but with some heavy content.

 ::)

silly sounding... and just a bit to much like Brian's early 80's Landy like material....

again  your opinion can vary.. its just imho

 ::)

I've had that thought.  One of those "I used to be bad off, but I'm better now!" lyrics that creep me out, actually.

It's been more than a month and after taking a break from it, I find that TLOS is still a great piece of work, just like Smile was after I first heard the live versions. Different than Smile to some capacity, but really a strong collection of song. Some of Brian's best melodies. There are some great rocking parts and it's not as esoteric as Smile or even Pet Sounds. It almost reminds of Wild Honey in a way. Still conceptual but chilled out with nice grooves. Midnight's Another Day and Goin Home are IMO some of the most heartfelt song BW has sung in a long, long time.  The interludes are even great as well. Too bad the California Saga on Holland wasn't as captivating.

I'm very excited for the studio version to say the least. I hope they bring it to Boston, I think I could convert some non-BW believers especially that acapella section near the end.

Yeah, I noticed that, too.  Actually, two weeks had elapsed since the debut and the Birmingham show.  That's twice as long as they had to rehearse the thing before the debut.  There are some really cool instrumental parts on the 24th recording that I never heard on the other two nights that I've listened to (10th and 12th).  My biggest complaint about the 24th?  Paul Von Mertins' flute noodling throughout some sections.  Some people don't like his sax solos, but all that flutey froo-froo is what gets to me.  There are flaws, both vocally and instrumentally, on all three of the recordings that I've heard, which is why I really want a studio recording and maybe a doctored live DVD. 

I already know that TLOS will rank among my favorite BB/BW albums. I loved it the first time, but it even grew on me with repeated listenings. "Live let live" for example transformed from a song I didn't like at all to a melody I can't get out of my head. Simple-sounding but effective. "Midnight" is a classic, I don't know what it is that makes it so touching, but like "Still I Dream Of It" it has that special thing. If they would only add a complete version of "Can't Wait Too Long"...

If i am in line anywhere "I've got a notion we come from the ocean" is often in my brain.

Yeah, after listening to if off and on for a few months, I really, really, REALLY like "Live let Live" it was a little bit too limp wristed for me before, but the new lyrics are just awesome.  He John Denver'd it.  John Denver was great at making songs with an environmental theme that were good, solid songs and not just lip service to his latest cause... "Calypso", "Rocky Mountain High", etc.

When Brian sings this song, you get a picture painted, and it's thoughtful, fun, youthful, expressive, very well done.  It's hard to make a song with a 'cause' that doesn't sound heavy and patronizing.  That part with the "Whales passing BYE" or "Waves passing BYE!" or whatever it is sounds great.  Plus, I believe there's a part in there about Brian scuba diving.  I'm not positive...  :o

I also think Oxygen to the Brain is a definite highlight.  It does sound like his 80's stuff, but I don't feel his 80's output was all disposible, it's an aspect of him, it's representative of that period of his life.  So when he sings this song, it kind of is that crazy 80's Brian peeking out at us.  If the whole album sounded like that, it'd be horrible but 1 song? I love it!  Can anybody catch the lyrics in the hook? Something about "Skip the Verse, jump right to the refrain!" or something.  I can't wait for the studio versions so we can understand all the lyrics.

I like both of these two tracks because they're upbeat and positive, great music. 

"Good Kind of Love" is my favorite song from TLOS, if for nothing but the catchy chorus and Taylor Mills' voice in the background.